My Father Always Said You Can Judge a Man’s Character by How He Treats Those Who Can Do Nothing for Him

Jun 21, 2013

RUSH: Here’s Bob in Clinton, Connecticut, as we go to the phones on Open Line Friday. Hi Bob, nice to have you here.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. You’re just a good friend I haven’t met yet. Can you hear me okay?

RUSH: I’m a friend you haven’t met yet?

CALLER: Yeah, exactly. Well, the reason why I’m calling is, with your trip to Normandy and your tribute to Vince Flynn, you said something about 15 years ago that had such an impact on my life. You talked about what your father taught you, and you stated that you can tell the character of a man by how he treats somebody that can do absolutely nothing for you.

RUSH: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. That’s exactly right.

CALLER: And when you said that, that just really struck me. Like I said, it had a profound impact, and I tried to live by that rule and raise my kids that way, and I just wanted to thank you for that. I mean, you said that a long time ago — 15, 20 years ago — and it’s stuck with me all these years.

RUSH: I’m glad you reminded me of that, particularly in the context of Vince, because that was exactly the kind of person he was. Yeah, my father always said, “The best measure of the character of a man is to observe how he treats people that can’t do anything for him.” Everybody’s gonna be nice to people who can do things for you. Everybody’s going to go out of their way to be of service or to be nice if you think somebody can do something for you. But how do you treat people who can’t do anything for you? That is the true measure of character and integrity, and I’m glad you reminded me of that, Bob, ’cause you’re exactly right — especially, as I say, as it relates to Vince.

CALLER: Right. And also your trip to Normandy. My dad was Omaha Beach on June 8th.

RUSH: Oh, wow.

CALLER: Yeah, and I have his diary and fountain pen.

RUSH: Have you been there?

CALLER: No, I haven’t. It moved me when you gave that tribute about how you went there. You know, I’d seen pictures and I just said, “My gosh, I have to get there.”

RUSH: Well, the pictures are amazing, but you have to go.

CALLER: (unintelligible)

RUSH: I hope you’re able to go someday, Bob, because you won’t believe it. I don’t care the stories that you’ve heard. You can appreciate it, but the level of understanding and appreciation you’ll have once you see that is different. When you know what happened, when you see where it happened, and know what those men did, it floors you. It looks impossible, what happened there that day. You should be very proud. I’m really glad you got through. Thanks very much. I appreciate your first comment, too.